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VIRGINIA 


Diversified soil and crops, varied elevation, mild climate, well distributed 
rainfall, wide ranges in the prices of good farm land, seven trunk lines 
railroads, five large navigable rivers, coastwise steamer connection with 
•- New York, Boston, Providence, European and Pacific ports -— — 




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Blossoms of the Dogwood Virginia Creeper 


The State Flower 

VIRGINIA TODAY 

HE yesterdays in Virginia agriculture number 
more than 250 years, and today she presents 
unexcelled opportunities for success on the farm. 
The lure of her lands is a diversified soil, varied eleva¬ 
tion, mild climate, and a well distributed rainfall 
There are wide ranges in prices of good farm lands. 
There are fine, highly improved country estates ; there 
are well improved farms with comfortable homes, and 
there is unimproved land responding readily to the 
proper method in farming. The homeseeker can find 
what he wishes in Virginia today. 


Geographic Position 

Virginia lies between the parallels of 36 degrees 
30 minutes and 39 degrees 30 minutes north lati¬ 
tude and the meridians 75 degrees 15 minutes and 
83 degrees 40 minutes west longitude. In its physical 
features it presents strong contrasts, the land rising 
from the coast line westward in a succession of terraces 
to the Blue Ridge, thence falling into the Great (or 
Shenandoah) Valley, and again rising to the crest of 
the Appalachians. 

The land area is 40,125 square miles, and its water 
area 2,325 square miles. Six rivers and tributaries 
drain the State, five of which, viz., the Potomac, Rap¬ 
pahannock, York, James, and Roanoke, flow generally 
eastward. The sixth, New river, rises in the moun¬ 
tainous portions of the southern part of Southwestern 
Virginia, and flowing generally northward, breaks 
through the Alleghany mountains in Giles county, 
joining the Kanawha river in West Virginia. 

Physical Divisions 

Virginia is divided into five great natural divisions. 

The level lands along the Atlantic coast, Chesapeake 
Bay, and the broad estuaries of the rivers that flow into 
the ocean and bay are known as Tidewater Virginia, 
comprising the counties of Accomac, Northampton, 
Westmoreland, King George, Northumberland, Rich¬ 
mond, Lancaster, Essex, King and Queen, Middlesex, 
Mathews, Gloucester, King William, New Kent, James 
City, Charles City, Prince George, Surry, Isle of 
Wight, Sussex, York, Warwick, Princess Anne, Elizabeth 




Page two 


IN 


TIE VALLEY OF VIRGINIA 


MAY 14195 




















Tidewater Virginia — Year-round Trucking — Watsrs Abounding in Fish, Oysters, Clams, and Crabs 


City, Norfolk, Nansemond, Southampton, and Greens¬ 
ville. Two counties of this division—Accomac and 
Northampton—are prolongations of the eastern shore 
of Maryland and are separated from the main body of 
the State by the Chesapeake Bay. 

Inland from Tidewater Virginia is a tier of counties 
with elevation of from 150 to 500 feet above sea level, 
known as Middle Virginia, including the counties of 
Arlington, Fairfax, Prince William, Stafford, Spotsyl¬ 
vania, Caroline, Louisa, Fluvanna, Goochland, Han¬ 
over, Henrico, Powhatan, Buckingham, Cumberland, 
Chesterfield, Amelia, Appomattox, Nottoway, Din- 
widdie, Campbell, Prince Edward, Charlotte, Lunen¬ 
burg, Brunswick, Mecklenburg, Halifax, and Pittsyl¬ 
vania. 


ery, Floyd, Carroll, Grayson, Pulaski, Wythe, Giles, 
Bland, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, Russell, Scott, 
Buchanan, Wise, Lee, and Dickenson. 

General Climatic Conditions 

Virginia has a climate free from persistent periods 
of abnormally hot or cold weather. The annual mean 
temperatures range from 60.8 degrees, at Capeville, 
in the extreme southern end of Northampton county, 
of the Eastern Shore, to 4.85 degrees, at Burkes Garden, 
in Tazewell county, Southwestern Virginia. The maxi¬ 
mum temperatures of summer average from 83 to 90 
degrees. The lowest temperatures of winter occur 
either in December, January or February, and usually 


The next tier to the westward is the Piedmont Re¬ 
gion, extending from Middle Virginia to the Blue Ridge, 
embracing the counties of Loudoun, Fauquier, Cul¬ 
peper, Madison, Greene, Orange, Albemarle, Nelson, 
Amherst, Bedford, Franklin, Patrick, Henry, and Rap¬ 
pahannock. 

Beyond, between the Blue Ridge and the Shenan¬ 
doah and North Mountain Range of the Alleghany 
mountains, is the Valley of Virginia—Frederick, Clarke, 
W arren, Shenandoah, Page, Rockingham, Augusta, 
Rockbridge, Botetourt, Roanoke. 

Three counties west of the Shenandoah mountains— 
Highland, Bath, Alleghany—and all the territory south 
of the headwaters of the Shenandoah river comprise 
Appalachia or Southwest Virginia—Craig, Montgom¬ 



1 ‘ A " ' TT * .• > 

Among the Hills of the Ai£leghanies 
'1 , ■■ r , •? Page three 

li V ■ ; /* > 












Virginia Can Show Some of the Best Herds in the Country 


in the latter month. As a rule, the minimum tempera¬ 
tures of winter average from 20 to 44.6 degrees above 
zero, as between the mountains and the coast counties, 
respectively. 

Precipitation 

The annual precipitation for the State is 41.94. In 
no part of the State is the average rainfall insufficient 
for crop needs. The greatest monthly rainfalls occur 
during the summer when moisture for vegetation and 
growing crops is most essential, gradually decreasing 
as autumn sets in, and being least, on the average, in 
November, when harvest is finished. One-half of the 
average yearly precipitation falls from April to Sep¬ 
tember 30th, inclusive. This fact has an important 



Many Farmers in Virginia Grow 40 Bushels to the Acre 


bearing on the agricultural interests of the State. The 
average amount of snowfall varies from 8.8 inches in 
Tidewater to 17.1 inches in the mountains. 

Winds 

The prevailing winds in Tidewater Virginia are from 
the west; in Middle Virginia from the northwest, and 
in the Great Valley from the west. The average 
hourly wind velocity is 8.2 miles per hour. Winds 
blowing at the rate of twenty-five or more miles per 
hour are infrequent in the Middle and Great Valley 
counties, and when they do occur they usually accom¬ 
pany the passage of the more severe thunderstorms. 
Along the coast such velocities are not infrequent. 

Varieties of Soil 

Tidewater Virginia is mainly an alluvial country, 
a portion of the tertiary, Atlantic tidewater plain. 
This is the clay, marl and sand region. The light, 
warm, sandy loam is adapted to produce early and 
abundant yields of truck crops, berries, melons. Here 
may be found the best examples of intensive agricul¬ 
ture in America. Some sections are marked by year 
round trucking. 

The soils of Middle Virginia embrace sandy types, 
sandy loam with clay subsoil, chocolate clay and red 
clay. The varied soils admit of great diversification. 
This is one of the finest general farming sections. 

The soils of Piedmont Virginia are of great natural 
fertility, generally underlaid with red clay, which car¬ 
ries enough free lime and potash for ordinary agricul- 


Page four 










tural purposes. The soil is especially adapted to fruit 
growing and fine pastures. 

The Valley and Southwest contain the natural blue- 
grass land. Limestone is the underlying or basement 
rock of the Valley. The heavy clay land, fat in fertiliz¬ 
ing ingredients, produces fine crops of corn, grass, and 
wheat. The fruit land is the equal of any in the world. 
Thousands of cattle graze on the grass-clad hills of 
Southwest Virginia. The soil is enriched by limestone 
and yields heavy crops of fine grasses. 

Agriculture 

Virginia is favored by nature for agriculture. Sev¬ 
enty-two per cent of her population is rural. She 
has highly successful agricultural settlements of over 
250 year’s standing. The history of the United States 
begins with the Virginia “plantation.” The landing 
in May, 1607, of one hundred Englishmen at James¬ 
town Island resulted in the first permanent English 
settlement in America, and here was built a permanent 
prosperity founded on agriculture. Present farm 
values indicate the unexcelled opportunities offered 
by the Virginia farms of today. 

Average Value of Plow or Cultivated Lands 

The average value of all plow or cultivated lands in 
the United States in 1922 was estimated to be 370.00 
per acre, and such land produced crops valued at 
322.95 per acre, while the average Virginia plow lands, 
valued at 343.00 per acre, produced crops worth 335.07 
per acre. That is, Virginia lands valued at 40% less 


per acre produced crops worth 53% more than the 
average for the United States. The value of lands and 
buildings in Virginia in 1909 was 3625,000,000; in 1919 
the value was 31,196,556,000 an increase of nearly 100 
per cent in the decade. Present farm values are not 
the result of a land boom or speculation, which in re¬ 
cent years caused greatly inflated values in some States, 
but these values are the results of a substantial yearly 
increase, beginning in 1916 and continuing. Of the 
sixteen leading States, Virginia ranks highest in pro¬ 
portion of the value of crop to value of land. See how 
the State stands from statistics compiled by United 
States Department of Agriculture for 1922. 



A Profitable Crop in Eastern Virginia 


Paye five 


















Fruits and Trucks. Excellent Opportunities for Small Fruits. A Frost-Free Season of 230 Days in the Trucking Section 




Pane six 























Crop Value 

Per Acre 

Average 
Value of all 
Plow lands 

Georgia. 

$ 20 71 

$ 28 00 

Illinois. 

20 16 

131 00 

Indiana. 

19 28 

85 00 

Iowa. 

20 95 

163 00 

Kansas. 

12 74 

60 00 

M aryland. 

32 52 

49 00 

Minnesota. 

16 10 

87 00 

Missouri. 

18 44 

65 00 

Nebraska. 

13 82 

101 00 

New York. 

31 04 

62 00 

(>hio. 

23 55 

78 00 

Oklahoma. 

15 54 

41 00 

Pennsylvania. 

30 52 

54 00 

Texas. 

27 04 

47 00 

Virginia. 

35 07 

43 00 

Wisconsin. 

25 04 

87 00 


Two of the Richest Agricultural Counties in America 

Accomac and Northampton counties, the “Eastern 
Shore” of Virginia, are the richest agricultural counties 
in the United States. They have the highest crop 
value per acre of farm land among the counties in the 
entire country. The following table from 1920 census 
reports substantiates this claim: 


Comparison ok Crop and Live Stock Values in Accomac and Northamp¬ 
ton Counties, Virginia, with These Values in the Four Leading 
Agriculturai. Counties in the United States. 

From United States Census 


COUNTY 

Acres 

Crops and 
Live 
Stock 

Value 

Per 

Acre 

Total Value 
Crops 
Alone 

Value 
Per Acre 
Crops 

Los Angeles, Cal... 
Fresno, Cal. 

882,000 
320,000 
850,000 
706,000 
156,788 
82,892 

$71,579,899 
55,110,101 
54,376,256 
41,191,240 
19,135,032 
11,251,562 

$ 81 15 
41 75 
63 10 
58 34 
121 24 
135 72 

$61,864,479 

51,861,252 

52,541,205 

37,956,866 

17,700,402 

10,388,369 

$ 70 14 

39 29 
61 80 
53 76 
121 74 
125 31 

Aroostock, Me. 

San Joaquin, Cal.. . 

Northampton, Va.. 


Grains 

Corn can be successfully grown all over the State. 
Many sections possess superior advantages over other 
States. Many farmers in Virginia report a yield of 
60 bushels per acre. 

The following table shows that Virginia farmers, with 
a yield smaller than that in some other States, ob¬ 
tained considerably above the market prices prevailing 
in other sections. With more attention to the culti¬ 
vation of corn such averages could be greatly increased. 

Many farmers report yields of forty bushels of wheat 
to the acre. The highest yield reported in Virginia 
is sixty-three bushels per acre on nine, acres. In all 
sections fifteen or more bushels to the acre are reported. 



The Tractor is at Work on Many Virginia Farms 


I'aye seven 























































Smaller yields are due to incorrect cultural methods 
rather than to unfavorable climatic conditions. The 
only profitable wheat in Virginia is fall-sown wheat. 

Corn Statistics From Several States in 1922 
From United States Department of Agriculture 


STATE 

Average 

Yield 

Value 
Per Acre 

Average 

Farm 

Price 

December 

1st 

Virginia. 

2S.0 bushels 

$ 22 12 

$ 0.79 

Ohio. 

39.0 bushels 

25 74 

. 66 

Indiana. 

37.0 bushels 

20 72 

.56 

Illinois. 

35.0 bushels 

21 30 

.60 

Iowa. 

45.0 bushels 

25 20 

.56 

Kansas. 

19.3 bushels 

11 77 

.61 

Missouri. 

2S.5 bushels 

19 38 

.68 

Kentucky. 

28.0 bushels 

19 32 

.69 

North Carolina. 

20.0 bushels 

17 80 

.89 



Virginia is the Third Apple-Producing State 


Grasses 

The Valley and Southwest Virginia are unsurpassed 
hay producing sections. The growth of grass is lux¬ 
uriant and of almost endless variety. Bluegrass clothes 
the hills and mountains as soon as the timber is re¬ 
moved. In other sections not favored with bluegrass 
of natural growth, good sods are maintained furnish¬ 
ing pasture for nine months in the year. 

Legumes 

These great soil improvers and forage crops flourish 
in Virginia from the mountains to the sea, and enter 
into farm rotation with scientific usage. Alfalfa is 
adapted to practically all parts of the State. The 
quality of Virginia alfalfa hay is unexcelled. It ana¬ 
lyzes from 13% to 14% digestible protein. 

Tobacco 

When the English settlers first looked around them 
they found the tobacco plant growing in Virginia. 
With few exceptions the cultivation of tobacco is con¬ 
fined to the section east of the Blue Ridge and west of 
Tidewater, and, excepting portions of half dozen 
counties, south of the James river. Roughly speak¬ 
ing, about one-third of the State produces tobacco. 
The various types are produced on certain special types 
of soil. In the extreme southwestern part of the 
State a large acreage of the Burley tobacco is grown, 
famous in the bluegrass sections of Kentucky and 
Ohio. During the past five years Virginia produced 


Page eight 


































The Valleys and Lower Hills are Devoted to the Production of Grain and the Grazing of Cattle 


on an average 144,736,000 pounds of tobacco, valued 
at #39,544,000. 

Fruits 

Virginia is the third apple producing State in the 
Union. Indeed, when variety, abundance and excel¬ 
lence of her fruits are considered, it is doubtless if any 
State can compare with Virginia in this respect. Apples 
may be said to be the principal fruit crop of the State. 
The Piedmont, Valley and Southwest sections are more 
particularly adapted to commercial apple growing. 
The 1920 census gives 7,385,000 bearing fruit trees. 
Virginia is the only State whose number of bearing 
trees increased during the ten-year period, the United 
States showing a decrease of 24% in bearing trees. 
There is invested in the apple industry and allied in¬ 
dustries #35,000,000. Experts predict that the Blue 
Ridge territory, meaning the Piedmont and the Shen- 
andoah-Cumberland Valley section, running from Get¬ 
tysburg, Pennsylvania, to Roanoke, Virginia, will be 
the center of the apple production in America, taking 
precedence over the States of Washington and New 
York. 

Ripe peaches are found in Virginia from the middle 
of June until early fall. In addition to the larger fruits 
there are fine opportunities for the smaller fruits, such 
as grapes, berries, cherries, and plums, which reach 
great perfection. An examination of the markets of 
Virginia towns and cities reveals the large volume of 
small fruits, which, with few exceptions, are almost 
exclusively raised within her own borders. Proximity 


to markets makes this an industry of increasing pro¬ 
portions. 

Peanuts 

The growing of peanuts is the most important agri¬ 
cultural enterprise of southeastern Virginia. Large 
factories for cleaning are located at Petersburg, Suffolk, 
and Norfolk, Suffolk being the largest peanut market 
in the country. According to 1920 census, the total 
production of peanuts for Virginia was 5,865,127 bush¬ 
els, valued at #13,196,543, an increase in production 
of 36.9 per cent, over 1910 census, and in value, of 
211.3 per cent. 


Poultry is a Valuable Asset on Many Farms 



Page nine 












A Tobacco Field Showing Method of Harvesting and Storing 


Trucks 

Value in 1909, 317,338,496; in 1919, 355,400,097. 

Eastern Virginia is today one of the finest trucking 
sections in America. Virginia’s trucking fields supply 
the great Eastern markets in turn with the trucking 
fields farther South. Two distinct and separate local¬ 
ities in Eastern Virginia have been developed for the 
production of vegetables for shipment to outside mar¬ 
kets. 

The first and oldest is the Norfolk district, embracing 
the counties of Isle of Wight, Norfolk, Nansemond and 
Princess Anne. The other, the Eastern Shore district, 
of more recent development, occupies the larger part 
of the counties of Accomac and Northampton. In the 


Norfolk district, the Norfolk fine sandy loam is the most 
extensive and important trucking soil, and on the East¬ 
ern Shore, the sassafras sandy loam. 

Area producing trucks are also found in other east- 
tern counties adjacent, and inia district of Southwest 
Virginia, especially the counties of Smyth and Wythe, 
where large acres of potatoes and cabbage are grown. 

Potato Crop Next to Tobacco as a Money Crop 

Potatoes constitute the leading crop in acreage in 
both the Norfolk and Eastern Shore districts, cabbage 
and strawberries are very important, and spinach and 
kale are the chief winter crops. Virginia ranked third 
in carlot shipments of white potatoes in 1921-1922, 
when 19,450 cars were shipped. The shipment from 
Virginia exceeded the carlot movement from such large 
potato-producing States as New York, Colorado, Mich¬ 
igan, and Idaho. The potato crop now ranks next to 
tobacco as a money crop. 



Preparing for the Barn 


The Largest Shipper of Sweet Potatoes 

Virginia is the largest shipper of sweet potatoes 
among all the States, and shipped 5,115 cars during 
the season of 1921-22, which was 26 per cent, of the 
total carlot shipment for the country. 

Live Stock 

Climate and a great variety of cultivated and native 
grasses present unsurpassed conditions for live stock 
in Virginia. Virginia has more purebred horses , sheep , 
beef , and dairy cattle than any other South Atlantic State. 


Faye ten 







The Peanut Crop is a Large and Important Industr? in the Southeastern Counties, South or the James 


She has more farmers pledged to the use of purebred sires 
than any other State. The largest exporter of cattle in 
America ships direct from the bluegrass pastures of 
Southwest Virginia. 

Sheep 

The ideal sheep walk may be found in the lands of 
the Appalachian region, the combination of hill and 
valley in the Valley and Piedmont sections fosters the 
sheep industry, and in Middle Virginia and Tidewater 
many farmers have flocks of sheep that count for profit 
in early lambs. 

Hogs 

Virginia can raise pork cheaper than the West, due 
to her long growing season and great variety of forage 
crops. The State offers fine opportunities for this 
profitable business. 

Dairying 

Virginia leads all South Atlantic States in milk pro¬ 
duction. She leads the South in cow-testing associa¬ 
tions. The dairyman finds in Virginia a good climate, 
abundant water supply, a responsive soil for raising 
cheap food, cheap building material for his barns, good 
and easy transportation, a ready sale for those of his 
herd he does not wish to keep, and a profitable market 
for dairy products. 


Poultry 

In several counties the total value of poultry products 
has been over one-half million. Since 1920, when the 
value of farm products has declined so rapidly, chickens 
and poultry products have been a valuable source of 
income to a large number of Virginia counties. The 
estimated value of poultry and eggs produced during 
1922 is 321,656,000. Accessible location and other 
conditions combine to make this industry profitable 
in Virginia. 



Splendid Opportunities for Hog Raising in Virginia 
The home of the Smithfleld Ham. 


Page eleven 













Representing Large Vai.ues in Virginia Agriculture 


What Virginia has Done for Agriculture 

Virginia recognizes that agriculture is the basic in¬ 
dustry, and in legislating for educational and adminis¬ 
trative work in agriculture, she maintains colleges, 
schools, and experiment stations of unexcelled merit, 
and her Department of Agriculture renders service 
manifested in the following activities: 

1. The Fertilizer Law. Amendments to this law 
have been enacted from time to time until the Virginia 
Fertilizer Law is acknowledged to be more protective 
in its scope than that of any other State. 

2. The Agricultural Seed Law. 


3. Tobacco Statistics Law. 

4. The Commission Merchants Law. 

5. The law establishing State Lime Plants. 

6. Distribution of Anti-Hog Cholera Serum. 

7. Distribution of Nitro-Culture. 

8. The Division of Markets, assisting farmers in 
the formation of co-operative associations in the ship¬ 
ment and sale of their various crops in an effort to ob¬ 
tain the best price at the smallest expense in selling. 

9. The Di vision of Agricultural Statistics, co-oper¬ 
ating with the United States Department of Agricul¬ 
ture. 



On a Farm in Northern Virginia, One of the Best Known Centers 
of Percheron Breeding in America 


10. The Pure Paint Law. 

11. The Insecticide and Fungicide Law. 

12. The Vegetable Seed Inspection Law. 

Virginia Among the First in Co-Operative 
Marketing 

Virginia was the fifth State to introduce marketing 
of farm products as an official activity. There are 
now thirty-two States having State bureaus of markets. 

The Director of the Division of Markets is author¬ 
ized to investigate the market demand for the products 
of Virginia farms; the location of the most profitable 
markets; the transportation facilities; the best methods 
of packing, grading, storing, and standardizing agri¬ 
cultural products; to aid in the organization of co-oper- 


Page twelve 
















































In the Harvest Field at Curl’s Neck, near Richmond 


ative associations among farmers; and to disseminate 
all possible information to farmers as to market prices. 

The trucking business is splendidly organized. The 
Eastern Shore of Virginia Produce Exchange is one of 
the finest examples of commodity organizations in the 
United States. The Peanut Growers’ Association, 
with main office at Norfolk, Va., is well entrenched. 
The Tobacco Growers’ Association has the largest mem¬ 
bership of any commodity organization in the country. 
To these may be added the Virginia Co-operative Sheep 
and Wool Growers’ Association, the Southwest Vir¬ 
ginia Co-operative Exchange, and a large number of 
Co-operative Live Stock Associations. 

Fish and Oysters 

The Chesapeake Bay on the eastern border of Vir¬ 
ginia has no equal for the abundance and variety of 
marine food which it supplies. It is 200 miles long, 
with an average width of fifteen miles. It has the most 
abundant oyster beds in the world. Its Lynnhaven 
Bay oyster is confessedly the largest and most deli¬ 
cious of the bivalve to be found in any water. The 
waters of this section abound in fish, oysters, clams, and 
crabs. Upon these waters and in marshes millions of 
water fowl and wild birds feed and have their nesting 
place. With more than 3,000 square miles of salt water 
bottom, of which 4,000 acres are set aside for oyster 
planting purposes, and 200,000 as a natural reserve, 
this may be claimed to be the greatest oyster section 
in the world. 


Transportation 

Eight trunk lines of railroads penetrate and intersect 
the State. Lines of steamboats ply the navigable 
streams. Coastwise steamers connect Virginia ports 
with New York, Boston, and Providence, as well as 
Pacific ports. Hampton Roads, the finest gateway of 
the seven seas, is the second port of the nation. The 
cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Newport News, and 
Hampton, make up the port of Hampton Roads. They 
are as inseparable as the communities surrounding New 
York. Three great coal-carrying roads terminate at 
Hampton Roads port. For the calendar year 1920, 
New York is given credit for vessels of a net tonnage 
of 32,449,000, while the Hampton Roads movement 



Vegetables Reach Perfection in Tidewater Virginia 


Page thirteen 











Agricultural Administration and Education in Virginia 


The Virginia Department of Agriculture 

The Virginia Department of Agriculture 
maintains a well-equipped chemical laboratory 
in which samples of food, feed and fertilizers 
are tested to protect Virginia farmers against 
adulterated goods. 


The Virginia Department of Agriculture 
distributes bulletins containing fertilizer, seed, 
market statistics, and practical farm informa¬ 
tion to a mailing list of 75,000 farmers each 
month—a larger mailing list than that of four 
large agricultural States combined. 


This Department maintains a well-equipped 
seed laboratory in its Division of Botany. 


Agricultural Schools and Experiment Stations 



( 548 

BOTETOURT 


CRAIG 


305 

ROANOKE 

Roanoke i 


BUCHANAN 


BLAND 


531 

AZEWELL 

27 , 840 ^ 


Radford" 

333 (A 
PULASKI 
k 17U1It 


DICKENSO 
f 13,542 


FRANKLIN 
I26,283 x 


/ 479 
^ WYTHE 
,^-20,217 \ 


V WIS& 

W,5oa^ 


\ 376 
“ FLOY! 
13,115 


RUSSELL 

26,786 


SMYTH 

22,125 


,444\; 

HENRY 

20,238 


604/ 

WASHINGTON 
\ 39405 


CARROLl 

21,283*4 


"543- 

ICOTT 


425 

GRAYSON 

19,816- 


PATRICK 
;>• 16,850 


Bristol 


The Division of Markets within this De¬ 
partment is active in the formation and pro¬ 
motion of equitable distribution of farm pro¬ 
ducts in close co-operation with the Federal 
Bureau of Markets. 

In the Division of Agricultural Statistics 
the Federal and State Departments combine 
resources for gathering and compiling agricul¬ 
tural statistics for Virginia. 


The Agricultural College and State Experi¬ 
ment Station is located at Blacksburg, Va. 

The Virginia Truck Experiment Station, 
Norfolk, Va., and seven other stations, located 
in different sections of the State, are actively 
engaged in experimental investigations for the 
advancement of agriculture. 


422 


HIGHLAr 

4,931 

fs 3* 


le 

545 
BATH 
6,389 f 

<j^r " 458 V/ 

I. c 

—Clifton Forge 

ALLEGHANY/l^kii 


BEDF 


30.6c 


pir 


Danville 


MAP OF VIRGINIA — Showing Outlines of her One Hundre 








'Tties, Acreage, Population, Largest Streams, and Railroads 




















































































—... 


HISTORIC HOMES 


Paue sixteen 


Mt. Vernon — Washington 
Red Hill — Patrick Henry 


Westover-on-the-James — William Byrd 
Arlington — Robert E. Lee 





















































b&mrn 


iK»3M iEMJKfl Iwil iitlil k 


Eagle Point. Waterfronts in Tidewater Virginia are Sought for Elaborate Homes 


aggregated 10,382,000. New Orleans was third with 
9,505,000 tons, and Baltimore was fourth, with 8,054,- 
000 tons. 

Education 

It is pretty well known that Virginia was the first 
permanent English settlement in America, that she 
was the first colony to have a legislative assembly, that 
within her borders Nathaniel Bacon struck the first 
blow for freedom, but it is not as well known as it should 
be that she was the first colony to plan an institution 
of learning in 1619. The Symes-Eaton Public School, 
founded in 1634, in Hampton, Va., is the oldest public 
school in America, and has been in continuous session 
for nearly three centuries. 

The University of Virginia at Charlottesville, founded 
by Thomas Jefferson, The College of William and Mary, 
founded in 1693, at Williamsburg, the Colonial capital, 
the second oldest college in the United States, the 
Washington and Lee University, the Virginia Military 
Institute, the West Point of the South. The University 
of Richmond, and the colleges of Hampden-Sidney, 
Randolph-Macon, Roanoke, Emory and Henry, and 
the Lynchburg College, are schools for men under the 
care of various Protestant organizations. The Virginia 
Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic 
Institute is located at Blacksburg, and four splendid 
normal schools for women maintained by the State, are 
located at Farmville, Fredericksburg, Radford and Har¬ 
risonburg. Class A colleges for women are located at 
Lynchburg, Sweet Briar, Richmond, and Staunton. 


The Public School System 

In the last three years this type of school has shown 
remarkable progress. Terms have been materially 
lengthened, the general quality of instruction now rep¬ 
resents a higher type. Within the last year the number 
of counties without high school facilities has been re¬ 
duced from ten to two. The State Board of Education 
has developed a well-worked-out plan for vocational 
education in three departments, agriculture, home eco¬ 
nomics, and trade and industry. 

Churches 

\ irginia has the splendid reputation of being a 
church-going State, and the people have reflected their 


" Best Friends ” in Out-Door Life 



Fiji seventeen 
















Industries 


Achievements in other industries have been promi¬ 
nent in Virginia along with her great agricultural de¬ 
velopment. 

The value of her manufactories increased from $108,- 
600,000 in 1910 to $650,000,000 in 1920. The annual 
lumber cut exceeds 2,000,000,000 feet. The total value 
of mineral mined in Virginia, according to 1920 statis¬ 
tics, was $82,662,945, representing an increase in value 
over 1919 of 40%. The production of iron ores in Vir¬ 
ginia in 1920 amounted to 320,109 long tons, valued at 
$1,227,601. The valuation of the production of pig 
iron in Virginia for the same year was $16,086,946. 


Riverside Cotton 


Danville, Virginia 


interest by providing good houses of worship in every 
community. Church adherents of all denominations 
can find congeniality in Virginia. The Sunday Schools 
of the State have just about the same enrollment as 
the day schools. 

Health 

The end towards which the Virginia State Board 
of Health directs its efforts is education. It helps 
people to help themselves. Its efforts have been suc¬ 
cessfully directed towards the prevention of epidemics. 
Sanitation has resulted in a wholesale elimination of 
typhoid. Efforts at tuberculosis education have ma¬ 
terially reduced the death rate from that scourge. The 


work of this board has a most beneficent influence on 
the health of the Commonwealth. 

Roads 

There is a State-wide interest in road building. Of 
the one hundred counties in Virginia, ninety-nine took 
advantage of the State aid fund in 1922. The cost of 
road building in Virginia is well under the average, 
and it has been stated by the Bureau of Public Roads 
officials that Virginia has gotten as much per dollar 
in road work as any other State in the Union. 

The General Assembly of Virginia, in February, 1922, 
established Lee Highway across the Commonwealth, 
a distance of about 400 miles, as Virginia’s part in a 
national memorial to General Robert E. Lee, this 
highway extending from the National Capital through 
the South and Southwest to the Pacific coast. 


* • “ 



On the Eastern Shore of Virginia 


Page eighteen 














Virginia has Many Well-Equipped Dairy Farms and Markets are Nearby 


Virginia takes rank among the principal coal-pro¬ 
ducing States in the United States. In 1920 the pro¬ 
duction in the State amounted to 11,378,606 short tons, 
valued at $ 45 , 446 , 465 , and the production of coke for 
the same year amounted to 714,980 short tons, valued 
at $ 6 , 324 , 578 . 

Cotton areas nearby furnish her textile mills with the 
best grades. The Danville cotton textile mills are 
among the largest in the South. Marbles, building 
stones, cement works, etc., give the State prestige in 
manufacturing, as well as her large tobacco factories, 
woodenwork factories, trunk factories, knitting mills, 
peanut mills, tanneries—all with raw materials near 
at hand. 

Witness Virginia’s industrial growth as shown by the 
following: 

Census Bureau Estimates for July, 1923, Given for 
Leading Cities. 

Richmond, 1920, 171,667; July 1, 181,044; Norfolk, 
1920, 116,774; July 1, 159,089; Portsmouth, 1920,54, 
387; July 1, 57,341; Roanoke, 1920, 50,842; July 1, 
55,502; Newport News, 1920, 35,593; July, 43,709; 
Petersburg, 1920,31,012; July 1, 34,294; Lynchburg, 
1920, 30,070; July 1 30,297; Danville, 1920, 21,539; 
July 1, 22,446; Charlottesville, 1920, 10,688; July 1, 
11,021; Staunton, 1920, 10,623, July 1, 10,629; Suffolk, 
1920, 9,123; July 1, 9,704. 

Mineral Resources 

Virginia is possessed of an abundance and variety of 
mineral materials, many of which have been worked 


since early colonial days. Mining of ore in Virginia in 
1609 by the Jamestown colonists was the first iron ore 
mined in the United States. The production in 1920 
amounted to 320,109 long tons, valued at $1,227,601. 
The valuation of pig iron for same year was $ 16,086,- 
946. Virginia has always held an important position 
in the production of manganese ores, of first production 
of pyrite (iron sulphide used in manufacture of sulphuric 
acid) among pyrite-producing States in the LInited 
States. The pyrite mines in Louisa and Prince William 
counties are the largest ones in the LInited States. The 
clays of Virginia show great variety and are suitable for 
many commercial purposes. The production of stone 



Legumes Flourish in Virginia from the Mountains to the Sea 


Paje nineteen 











Field of Fine Ensilage Corn. 25 Tons to the Acre 


is an important industry and was fifth in importance 
in 1920. 


Coal 

Of the minerals mined in Virginia coal is most im¬ 
portant in quantity and value. In 1920 the produc¬ 
tion in the State amounted to 11,378,606 short tons, 
valued at $45,446,465. Virginia takes rank among the 
principal coal-producing States in the United States 
because of the extensive coal fields in the southwest 
part of the State, including parts of the following coun¬ 
ties: Tazewell, Russell, Scott, Dickenson, Buchanan, 
Wise, and Lee. 


Mineral Waters and Resorts 

The mineral waters are an important source of reve¬ 
nue to the State. Virginia has a great variety of well- 
known commercial waters. She is par excellence a min¬ 
eral springs State, occupying among the South Atlantic 
States the same position that New York does in the 
North Atlantic States. 

Forest Resources 

In 1920 Virginia ranked second in value of forest 
products on farms. The forests of Virginia constitute 
a natural resource of tremendous value. The entire 
State is naturally a wooded country. Exact figures 
are lacking, but it is estimated that about 7,907,000 
acres on farms could be classed as forest. The distri¬ 
bution of the forest area is fairly uniform. There are 
no large areas without some woods and none without 
some cleared land. The character of the stands varies 
from “virgin” forests, in which no cutting has ever been 
done, to stands which have been cut over a number of 
times. In the Tidewater section there is the loblolly 
pine. Other principal species are various oaks, gums, 
maple, yellow poplar, hickory, ash, beech, locust, syca¬ 
more, “short leaf pine,” and evergreens. The value of 
forest products for the 1920 census year was $24,142,- 
423, $16,000,000 of which, in round numbers, was the 
surplus sold while $8,000,000 was consumed on the 
farm. 

Water Power 


The State Owns and Operates a Lime-Grinding Plant, Selling Lime 
to the Farmer at Cost 


The rivers and streams of the State afford a mar¬ 
vellous water power. Even in Tidewater the numerous 



Faye twenty 























Seeep for Wool and Mutton and for Early Spring Lambs are Profitable in Virginia 


small rivers and creeks have ample water power for 
grist mills. Where Tidewater joins Middle Virginia 
there is a rocky ledge. In pouring over that ledge rapids 
are formed that give magnificent water power. This is 
especially fine at Alexandria on the Potomac, Fredericks- 
burg on the Rappahannock, Richmond on the James, 
and Petersburg on the Appomattox. The James river 
and its tributaries affords excellent water power its 
great length, and New river in Southwest Virginia. 


General Statistics 


Figures according to 1920 Census Reports 

Latitude_26° 30' and 39° 30' north 

Longitude__75° 15 / and 83° 40 / west 

Annual mean temperatures_60.8° to 48.5° 

Maximum temperatures of summer average. 83° to 90° 
Minimum temperatures of winter 

average_20° to 44.6° above zero 

Average annual precipitation_ 41.94 

Land area_40,125 square miles 

Water area_ 2,325 square miles 

Total population_ 2,309,187 

Rural population_ 1,635,203 

Land area in acres_ 25,767,680 

All land in farms_ 18,561,112 

Woodland in farms_ 7,907,352 

Improved land in farms_ 9,460,492 

Other unimproved land in farms- 1,193,268 

Per cent, of land area in farms_ 72.0 


Number of all farms_ . 186,242 

Owners_ 136,363 

Managers_ . 2,134 

Tenants_ 47,745 

Average acreage per farm_ ______ 99.7 

Value of all farm property. _ $1,196,555,772 

Land_ 756,354,277 

Buildings_ 268,080,748 

Implements_ 50,151,466 

Live stock_ 121,969,281 

Value of all farm products__ _ 425,199,212 

Capital invested in mines__ 57,035,775 

Value of mineral products_ 20,363,449 










































Capital invested in manufacturing 

plants_ 464,990,5 / 

Value of manufactures_ 642,000,000 

R. F. D. routes in Virginia_ 1,1 J ,; 

Miles of rural roads_ 55,000 

Miles of steam railroads (single track)__ 4,609 

Miles of elctric railways_ 461.35 

Cities over 25,000_ 

Cities over 10,000_ 

Cities over 5,000_ 6 


Federal Reserve Bank for Fifth District located in 
Richmond. 



Three Shorthorn Beauties 


NATURAL WONDERS 

Many marvelous natural wonders are found in Vir¬ 
ginia. Three of the world’s greatest scenic marvels 
are short distances apart and within easy travel of 
tourists. One of these is the beautiful and spectacular 
Luray Caverns in Page county, four and a half hours’ 
train service from Washington, D. C. Within its vast 
labyrinths stupendous draperies of stalagmite and 
stalactite forms are transformed into a fairy-land under 
electric illumination. Shenandoah Grottoes, forty 
miles away, are distinguished by the same marvelous 
traceries, strange and giant shapes of which no two 
are alike. Weyers Cave in Augusta county is another 
of this wonderful group adorned with forms curiously 
wrought by the slow dripping water through the cen¬ 
turies. 

The most widely known of Virginia’s wonders is the 
famous Natural Bridge, overlooking the James river 
on the western slope of the Blue Ridge in Rockbridge 
county, fourteen miles from Lexington. It is a stu¬ 
pendous bridge of rock, 215 feet high, 100 feet wide, 
with a span of ninety feet. Its charms and majesty 
baffle description. The Balcony Falls, immediately 
where Rockbridge, Amherst and Bedford counties cor¬ 
ner, the passage where the James river cuts its way 
through the Blue Ridge, presents a scene of beauty 
little, if any, inferior to the passage of the Potomac at 
Harper's Ferry in northern Virginia through the same 
range of mountains. Crab Tree Falls, near the summit 
of the Blue Ridge in Nelson county, are formed by a 
branch of Tye river. They consist of three falls, the 


Page twenty-two 






















The Virginia Capitol and Washington Monument Crowning the Capitol Square, Richmond, The Capitol Designed by Thomas Jefferson, 

in the Classic Style of Antiquity: Completed 1792 


longest of these leaps of the stream being 500 feet. This 
freak of nature and the unsurpassed mountain scenery 
of the surrounding region, attract many tourists. 

Further south, to the west, is Mountain Lake in 
Giles county, a beautiful body of deep water, some 
3,500 feet above the sea level. The water is so trans¬ 
parent that the bottom can be seen in every part. 
Pleasure boats sailing upon it pass above the trunks and 
tops of large trees that are plainly seen. This would 
indicate that the lake is not of very great antiquity. 
This is an unique summer resort, from which superb 
views of the valley, over 3,000 feet below, can be had. 

In Bedford county are the celebrated Peaks of Otter, 
having an altitude of 4,001 feet, noted for sublime, 
picturesque scenery. Beyond, in the far Southwest, 
is the Natural Tunnel in Scott county, a freak of na¬ 
ture that amazes. In the early days the buffaloes found 
their ways under the mountain through the tunnel; on 
their trail came the early Indians, and behind them 
Daniel Boone, who blazed the way for civilization. 
Behind Boone and the early settlers, the progenitors 
of the present mountain stock, came the steel rail and 
the monster locomotive. 

The Dismal Swamp may properly be accounted a 
natural wonder. It is an extensive region lying mostly 
in Virginia—in the counties of Norfolk and Nanse- 
mond—but partly in North Carolina, covering a tract 
of 300 square miles, and covered with dense forests of 
cypress, juniper, cedar, and gum. For many years this 


was a remote, weird region, inhabited by wild animals, 
but many acres have been reclaimed, and devoted to 
agriculture with good results. Much of its valuable 
forest has been converted into merchantable timber for 
the manufacture of buckets, tubs and other varieties 
of woodenware, and for shingles, staves and ship tim¬ 
ber. In the middle of this swamp, on the boundary 
between Nansemond and Norfolk counties, is beautiful 
Lake Drummond, the largest lake in Virginia, a body 
of fresh w r ater nearly circular in form and over fifteen 
miles in circumference, lying entirely within the State. 
It is noted for the purity of its clear, bright, amber- 
colored water, remaining unchanged for years. 



Around Lexington, Virginia 


Page twenty-three 































Glimpse of the University of Virginia, Founded by Thomas Jefferson 
Monticello, the Home of Jefferson, Nearby 


Typical of Virginia’s Modern High Schools. The Oldest Public School in America is in Virginia—1634, at Hampton, Virginia 


sive church, is preserved, and the present restored 
church was built by the Colonial Dames in 1907. A 
statue of Pocahontas, the Algonquin Princess, has been 
unveiled recently. The grounds have been beautified. 
Priceless relics have been found in excavations amid 
the foundations of historic buildings. Every American 
should reverence the site where in 1619 the first truly 
representative legislative body assembled in this New World 
never to be outdone on American soil. 

Williamsburg. —Jamestown was an unhappy site 
from sanitary conditions in colonial days, and, after 
wars and pestilence, the seat of government was moved 
to Williamsburg, which, in the eighteenth century, 
was the center of wealth, fashion, and learning of the 
Old Dominion, the influence of which has left its im¬ 
press upon the State and Nation in the men of state 
and national reputation that have gone out from its 
ancient seat of learning, William and Mary College. 
Today the tourist finds, among historic landmarks, 
Bruton Parish Church (1632), the old Powder Horn 
(1714) designed by Sir Christopher Wren, the debtor’s 
Prison (1800), the foundation of the old capitol where 
assembled the House of Burgesses, the Eastern State 
Hospital for the Insane (1773), the first institution of its 
kind in the United States. 


VIRGINIA 

“The Cradle of The Republic” 

Jamestown.- Jamestown Island, on the north side of 
the James river, about thirty-two miles from its mouth, 
is the most interesting spot in America, as the site of the 
first permanent English settlement in 1607. This was 
the seat of government of the Virginia Colony from 
1607 to 1698, when Williamsburg became the colonial 
capital. For many years Jamestown remained the 
site of a vanished past, with only the ruins of the Old 
Tower bearing mute testimony. Today the Associa¬ 
tion for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities is 
active in the restoration of the past in memorials. The 
Old Tower, built in 1617, and attached to each succes- 


Yorktown. —Here the independence of America 
was achieved in the surrender of Lord Cornwallis to 
the combined armies of America and France, October 
19, 1781. The tourist will be interested in the monu¬ 
ment commemorating the victory of the American 
army, the old Custom House (1715), the first in Amer¬ 
ica, the Episcopal Church (1700) and yard, “Corn- 


Paye twenty-four 





























Red Clover, The Great Soil Builder 


wallis’ Cave,” and another monument, commemorating 
the surrender, erected by the regimental and company 
officers of the Twenty-first Regiment of Virginia mi¬ 
litia of Gloucester county. 

“The Old Custom House, which stands now in a good 
state of preservation, was the first custom house in 
America. Yorktown, being the first port of entry, all 
vessels doing business with the Northern cities had to 
come first to this port for papers before going on. The 
building is made of old English brick and is said to 
have been erected about 1715, but this statement is not 
authentic. The Town of York (now Yorktown) was 
laid off in 1691. The king issued orders that fifty acres 
of land should be laid off for a shire town (courthouse 
town) and paid for from the king’s treasury, which was 


tobacco.”—Trow “Old Yorktown and its History .” A 
recent act of Congress has appointed a commission to 
investigate the establishment of a national military 
park at Yorktown. 

Fort Monroe. —The fort stands on the hook-line 
extremity of a long sand spit that extends southward 
across the entrance to Hampton Roads, at the mouth 
of the James river. The south end of the spit bears the 
inviting name of Old Point Comfort, a lasting memorial 
to the first English colonists who, landing in 1607 with 
instructions to use their “best endeavor to find out a 
safe port in the entrance of some navigable river,” 
found here a protective deep anchorage, which put the 
immigrants in good comfort. On March 1, 1821, an 
act was passed by the General Assembly of Virginia 



Corn and Sorghum in the Valley of Virginia 


Page twenty-five 












Supplying thf- Truck iyq Fields of Eastern Virginia 


conveying by deed to the United States the 250 acres 
of land on which the Federal government began erec - 
ing works of national defense. It was named in honor 
of James Monroe, who was President of the Unit'd 
States when its construction began. There is a varieiy 
of training for the recruit to select from at Fort Mo - 
roe that is not to be equaled in any other branch of tl e 
service. In a recent history of Fort Monroe, by Captai 1 
Nelson Dingley, he says, “Fort Monroe is today, with¬ 
out exception, the most beautiful as well as historic 
army post in the United States. The barracks are of 
brick and made comfortable with modern improve¬ 
ments.” It was at Fort Monroe that President Jeffer¬ 
son Davis was confined for nearly two years, No. 2 
Casemate. 


“The Old Dominion,” “The Mother of States,” 

“ The Mother of Presidents.” 

From her loyalty to the crown in the struggle between 
Roundheads and Royalists in England, Virginia earned 
for herself the title of “Old Dominion,” the new seal 
sent to the Colony bearing the motto: “£h dat Virginia 
quintum." Of the hard-won territory in carrying her 
civilization into the wild regions beyond the mountains, 
Virginia gave gratis that from which the great Central 
States were carved, which crowns her the “Mother of 
States.” From Virginia’s plantation life, in the forma¬ 
tive period of our great country, came the five leaders 
and consequent appellation “Mother of Presidents.” 





A Colonial Home in Virginia 


Many Miles of Highway of this Type are Under Construction 



Page twenty-six 






















Field of Magnificent Dairy Forage — Crimson Clover and Vetch 


AN INVITATION 

This booklet is presented with the aim of giving to the homeseeker a brief survey 
of the opportunities in the Virginia of today. She invites the agricultural home- 
seeker to share in her present day achievement and her confidence in the future. 
The resources and opportunities briefly discussed in this booklet are presented in 
detail in the Hand Book of Virginia , of 256 pages, profusely illustrated, which will 
be sent to those contemplating the purchase of a farm in Virginia. 

G. W. KOINER, 
Commissioner of Agriculture. 



Poultry is an Industry per se in Virginia, as well as an Auxiliary Industry on Many Farms 


Page twenty-seven 
















Department of Agriculture and Immigration 

GEO. WyKOINER, Commissioner, Richmond, Va. 


Department of Agriculture and Immigration 

GEO. W. KOINER, Commissioner, Richmond, Va. 

























